JAMESTOWN - The ever-popular weekend steam-powered excursion trains at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park (SHP) will be running all three days of the 4th of July holiday weekend – July 2, 3 and 4 – with special rides behind Sierra No. 3 (widely known as the "Movie Star Locomotive") and aboard Caboose No. 7 on Monday, July 4 only.

The uproar over imposing a landscape maintenance district to pay for the neighborhood park scheduled to be put in place later this year in the Union Ranch neighborhood is the outgrowth of a decision made almost 30 years ago.

Manteca civic and business leaders are lobbying for a redistricting plan that would end Manteca's status as a divided city for the past 20 years when it comes to representation on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

Henry Soria was just finishing his morning walk around the block shortly before noon Monday when a neighbor yelled out to him that his duplex located just north of the Manteca High athletic fields was on fire.

The pending layoff of six firefighters and taking the 100-foot aerial platform engine company off first-line status will trigger an estimated 10 percent drop off in Manteca meeting its target of getting firefighters on the scene of emergencies within five minutes of being dispatched.

May has turned into the biggest month in six years for private sector construction in Manteca with the issuance of building permits valued at $14.8 million for the 153-unit Belagio apartment complex being built on East Atherton Drive east of Van Ryn Avenue.